Phrase guide

optical fibre

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A thin, transparent, flexible fibre, made of glass or plastic, used for transmitting light.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a very thin fiber made of glass that functions as a waveguide for light; used in bundles to transmit images

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: optical fiber, glass fiber, glass fibre

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fiber, fibre

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: опти́чно влакно́ (optíčno vlaknó) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Catalan: fibra òptica — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Chinese Mandarin: 光導纖維 /光导纤维;光纖 /光纤 (guāngdǎoxiānwéi) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Czech: optické vlákno — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Danish: lysleder — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Dutch: glasvezel — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Finnish: valokuitu — fibre used for transmitting light
  • French: fibre optique — fibre used for transmitting light
  • German: Lichtwellenleiter — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Greek: οπτική ίνα (optikí ína) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Icelandic: ljósleiðari — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Indonesian: serat optik — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Italian: fibra ottica — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Japanese: 光ファイバ (hikari-faiba) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Japanese: 光ファイバー (hikari-faibā) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Kazakh: сәулежол (säulejol) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Korean: 광섬유 (gwangseomyu) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Macedonian: оптичко влакно (optičko vlakno) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Polish: światłowód — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Portuguese: fibra ótica — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Romanian: fibră optică — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Russian: оптоволокно́ (optovoloknó) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Sindhi: چَشم ريش (caśm reś) — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Swedish: optisk fiber — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Tagalog: sugaaning himaymay — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Turkish: optik fiber — fibre used for transmitting light
  • Welsh: ffibr optig — fibre used for transmitting light